Countdown

Countdown
by Deborah Wiles

Franny is 11 and the year is 1962.  She has an older sister and a younger brother.  As a normal 11 year old, she would like to be like her older sister.  However her older sister has recently gone somewhere and her parents aren't telling her what's going on.  Other than being a normal 11 year old, what isn't so normal is the constant worrying about how the Russians might bomb us.

They are constantly doing drills at school and being told to "duck and cover."  What a scary time for a 11 year old, and really a scary time for anyone.

Intertwined with the story are real pictures from the 60s and info from that time period.  I really liked how the author added these extras in, as it made the book more interesting.  Reading the Cuban Missile crisis was also interesting.  This is not something I had worried about as it was before my time.  However, you can see how scary and terrifying that would have been to everyone at the time.  Imagining October 22nd, 1962 and how scared people would have been listing to President Kennedy.

As of now there is another book in this series, and I will be adding it to my to-read list.